The black Rose
by VampireatHeart
Summary: Set Before HBP. Harry is dreading his new year at Hogwarts until a mysterious girl shows up during the start of term feast. However all is not as it seems as our burdened Hero is about to find out and what does the mythical Black rose have to do with it?


I hope you all enjoy the product of my wild ideas!

Harry potter sat staring at a particularly boring knot in the old, worn tables. God his life sucked. His friends had given up trying to talk to him about… anything really. Hmm well what do you know thirty minutes into Hogwarts and they were already sick of his one word answers. Didn't this year look fun! He glanced up uninterestedly as the first little first year stumbled up onto the stool. Was he really that small when he first came to Hogwarts? Ha! Who was he kidding he stood a little over five foot four right now. He had since grown used to the merciless teasing from the other guys in his dorm. Well, it's not liked it could be helped on his part. Eleven years in a cupboard could do that to you.

He was halfway through tracing the outline of the strange knot for the sixth time when all of the noise in the hall suddenly stopped. Vaguely interested he lifted his head and watched with a mild curiosity as a strange girl struggled to compose herself after what seemed like a long struggle with the huge doors. Huffing out she turned and seemed to only then realise that everyone was silently staring at her. She nervously twisted with the straps of the large backpack she was carrying. She was shorter than Harry, he noticed with glee. She was wearing a pair of baggy jeans and what looked like a bright striped jumper with a black t-shirt over it. She had short, honey blonde hair with neon pink streaks through it tied back in spiky bunches and a long, straight portion of her hair hung I front of her right eye. He vaguely wondered how she saw out of that eye. A studded belt seemed to be the only thing holding the jeans around her waist and even at that he could clearly see she was wearing a pair of boxers. He could hear Hermione tutting beside him and couldn't help but smile.

The girl nervously cleared her throat and began to stride up the isle to professor Lupin. (Dumbledore had hired him as a last resort and was still clearing the owls out of his office.) He looked mildly surprised.

"Uncle Remy?" the girl started uncertainly. Remus only nodded. "Well see, the thing is, I kinda, I-ran-away-again" she spoke so quickly that Harry almost missed what she said. It was hard enough trying to break through her Glaswegian accent. Remus only shook his head again. This obviously happened a lot.

"Do I dare ask why?" he groaned. The girl looked slightly offended.

"Don't take that tone with me Remus Lupin. It's my mum and her stinking boyfriend."

"David?"

"No."

"Luke?"

"Wrong again, it's her latest catch, Jimmy." She smirked. "He hates my guts, and he's a completely self-centred, conceited, lazy asshole!"

"We should probably continue this conversation later, is it okay if she stays the night headmaster?"

Albus Dumbledore simply smiled his usual benevolent smile and Remus turned back to his niece.

"Perhaps you should take a seat somewhere," he smiled reassuringly at her. She just looked at him in disturb.

"You're joking right, these guys look kinda hostile." She muttered looking at half of the people who were glaring at her impatiently.

Harry snorted quietly but unfortunately it was heard over everyone else's deafening silence. The girl turned to him and smirked. He smirked back.

"Well, funny boy over there doesn't seem too threatening." A lot of other people snorted this time. She obviously missed the joke because she just raised her eyebrow at them in one superior move and looked at them in a way that just screamed what-are-you-people-on?

Sighing loudly and over exaggeratedly she gave her uncle one last meaningful look that he nodded at and trudged over to Harry. Professor McGonagall looked highly affronted, her lips were almost nonexistent they were pressed together so tight. Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands and gestured for her to continue. She nodded stiffly and called the next victims name. Poor guys.

Harry was suddenly dragged out of his pity for the poor little guy up on the stool by a poking on his shoulder. He turned around to be greeted by a cocky smirk that reminded him far too much of Draco Malfoy to be healthy. The girl stuck out her petit hand and grinned.

"I'm Charlie,"

"Seriously, that's your name?"

"Hey, don't mock it, but no. I'm ashamed to say that I was unfortunately christened Charlene. My gran is called Charlene!"

Harry couldn't help it. He laughed. The first true laugh he had uttered in months. His friends turned to look at him in surprise.

"Hey, it's not funny. I was the only person in my school that was named after an old woman who smoked cigars and called me Harley! I was slagged rotten I was!"

"I'm sorry, I'm Harry." He shook Charlie's hand and they both began to chat idly whilst watching, or pretending to anyway, the sorting. Harry answered what seemed like a billion and one questions on her part. Looking back he would have realised that this was as open as he had been to anyone since the death of his god-father. He felt normal for once.

As it turned out Charlie was a muggle. Remus wasn't her real uncle just a really close friend of the families. She asked Harry all sorts of strange questions like who was it that thought up the word muggle? Harry began to find himself getting tired of the really difficult questions. He enjoyed talking to Charlie because she didn't have a clue who he was. She didn't expect anything of him, to her he was just another guy. Dinner was over far too quickly in Harry's opinion and it was with a heavy heart that he trudged up to his dorm. Before leaving Charlie had made him promise to meet her outside the great hall for breakfast. She then said goodnight before grimacing and turning to meet Remus who was making his way out of the hall and towards her.

Something told Harry she was in for a rough night. He wasn't going to be much better. He was currently running on three hours, possibly four, of sleep a night. Gruesome nightmares plagued his sleep leaving him usually bent over the toilet heaving his guts up. Not a nice thing to wake up to.

Sighing defeated he changed into his pyjamas whilst engaging Ron in some small talk. Never looking him in the eye. He couldn't bear the adulterated worry and sympathy, pity and confusion that would harbour there. He clambered into his bed and pulled his hangings shut. Flopping back onto his pillows he pulle the covers right up to his nose and closing his eyes braced himself for the torrent of ghastly, inhumane torture his dreams mercilessly threw at him.

I am really sorry about not keeping my promise, family stuff came up that I really had to prioritise. I'm even more sorry that I don't have a new chapter for you guys but I reread my other chapter and it was really crap so I altered it slightly. as always please review, i would really appreciate it. Till next time.

Linz :p


End file.
